Method of making shoes



- 1936- R. E. HOPKINS METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed June 4, 1934 PatentedOct. 27, 1936 PATENT OFFICE 2.058.454 1 METHOD OF MAKING SHOES RaymondE. Hopkins, Pembroke, Mesa, assignor to United Shoe MachineryCorporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationJune 4, 1934, Serial No. 728,895

, g 7 Claims.

This invention relates to methods of making shoes and to improvements ininsoles as articles of manufacture.

In lasting a shoe upper over-the edge of an insole on a last the wipersor overlaying devices of the lasting machine have some tendency to breakdown or round over the sharply defined upper corners of the sole edge.It is desirable to preserve the initial sharpness of these edge 10corners, particularly at the toe of the insole, to insure that theadjacent portions of the upper shall lie close to the outsole in thefinished shoe and, accordingly, it is a common practice to'dip the toesof insoles in a solution containing a stiffening medium, such asshellac, before the insoles are assembled with the uppers on the last.The toes of insoles are thus stiffened or reinforced so that their edgesare less liable to be distorted or broken down by the action of the mwipers or the tension of the lasted upper. In such cases, however,difficulty is experienced if the upper is to be secured in lastedrelation to the insole by means of an adhesive, such for example asrubber latex which is commonly em- 5 ployed for that purpose, because ofthe fact that the shellac or other stiffening medium closes the v poresof the leather and produces upon the insole a smooth, glazed surface towhich thelatex will not adhere. It is also a well-known practice tostiffen the toes of insoles by the application of thin fiberboardreinforcing pieces to the insole surfaces. This practice, however, isalso objectionable inasmuch as the hard glazed surfaces of thefiberboard pieces, unless specially roughed or otherwise prepared, are.not adapted to receive latex or similar adhesives in such a manner as toinsure security of attachment of an' upper thereto.

For the purpose of avoiding such undesirable 40 conditions, the presentinvention provides an improvement in the art of shoemaking whichinvolves the application of a stiffening solution to the edge portiononly of an insole, the solution V penetrating into the substance of theinsole only to such an extent as adequately to reinforce the edgeportion of the insole against the stresses to which it is subjectedduring the lasting of an upper thereover, but not to. an extentsuflicient-to interfere with the obtaining of a satisfactory bondbetween the marginal surface of the insole and the overlasted margins ofthe upper. An insole thus treated is assembled with an upper upon alast, the upper is worked over the stiffened edge of the insole, and theoverworked margins of the upper are secured by means of adhesive to theuntreated insole substance immediately adjacent to the stiffened edgeportion. As illustrated, the stiffening medium may be appliedprogressively, about the edge of the toe or the toe and forepartportions of the in'sole or, if desired, 5 entirely around the insole, bydrawing the insole edge over a roller arranged to dip into the solution.It will be recognized that invention resides also in an article ofmanufacture comprising an insole having its extreme edge portion only,or 10 a part of its edge portion only, impregnated with a stiffeningmedium so that it is stiffened or reinforced to withstand the stress ofthe lasting of an upper 'thereover. the remaining substance ofthe insolebeing unimpregnated and presenting an 15 untreated surface adapted tofacilitate adhesive attachment of an overlasted upper thereto.

The invention will be explained with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig. 1 is a conventional view illustratingthe 20application of the reinforcing or stiffening medium to the edge of thetoe portion of an insole;

Fig. 2 is a detailed sectional view taken along the line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to' Fig. 2 but showing a 25 modifiedconstruction of the member which applies the stiffening medium;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of an insole as it appearsafter the stiffening medium has been applied to the edge portion of itstoe by 30 means of a roll having a recessed periphery such asthat shownin Fig. 3, the insole being broken away to illustrate how the stiffeningmedium penetrates slightly into the substance of the sole;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an insole which 5 has been reinforced bythe application of the stiffening medium entirely around its edge; and

. Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional views taken through the toe portion of alasted shoe and illustrating different stages in the operation oflasting the 40 upper materials over the insole.

In the practice of my improved method the reinforcing or stiffening ofthe edge portion only of an insole may conveniently be accomplished,

as illustrated in Fig. 1, by drawing the edge of 45 an insole In overthe periphery of a roll I! partially immersed in a stiffening solutionll contained within a receptacle l6 within which the roll I2 is mountedto turn freely. Shellacor a solution of one or more resins in a solventsuch 0 as alcohol may be employed as the stifiening medium or any of thecommercial solutions commonly used for stiffening leather.- The insolemay be manipulated to cause the stiffening solution to be applied to thesole edge at the toe por- 55 tion only of the insole, as indicated at ISin- Fig. 1, or to such additional portions of thesole edge as may bedesired. It has been found to be advantageous to apply the stiffeningsolution to the sole edge around the entire forepart of the insole andin some cases to apply it also to the shank or to the shank and heelportions of the insole, as indicated in Fig. 5. The periphery of theroll [2 may be transversely straight, as shown at 20 in Fig. 2, in whichcase the roll will function to apply the stiffening solution directly tothe edge face only of the insole. If desired, however, the periphery ofthe roll [2 may be made transversely concave or provided with an annulargroove, such'as that indicated at 22 in Fig. 3, in

which case the stiffening solution will be applied not only to the edgeface but also to narrow portions of the top' and bottom surfaces of theinsole which are immediately adjacent to its edge face. Upon applicationof the stiffening solution to the sole the solution will penetrate orstrike a in to the substance of the sole to a certain extent, asindicated at 24 m Fig. 4, so that not only will the edge facebe coatedwith the stiffening medium but the fibers of the leather will bethoroughly impregnated therewith throughout an area extending inwardly aslight distance from theedge face. Inwardly of this narrow area,however, the substance of the sole will not be impregnated and themarginal portion of the bottom surface of the insole (to which theoverlasted margins of the upper are to be-secured) will be entirelyunaffected by the solution, except in the immediate vicinity of the edgeface itself. After being treated with :the stiffening solution the solesare preferably laid aside to permit the solution to dry so aseffectively to stifien 'or reinforce the'edge portions which have beenimpregnated by it.

In proceeding with the practice of my improved method, an insole, theedge portion of which has been treated as above described, is assembledupon a last, such as the last 26 (Figs. 6 and 7),

together with the usual upper materials which,

- as illustrated, comprise an upper 28, a. toe stiffener or box toe 30,and a lining 32. The lasting of the upper materials over the insole l0now proceeds in the customary manner. The lasting operation at the toeof the shoe may advantageously be performed by means of a bed lastingmachine of a well-known type, such for example as the machine disclosedin United States Letters 'Patent No. 1,018,477, granted February 27,1912, upon application of Matthias Brock. In the use of a bed lastingmachine of this type the toe wipers, one of which is indicated at 34 inFigs. 5 and 6, are first moved inwardly under the control of theoperator to engage their edge portions with the upper at opposite sidesof the toe of the last in locations below the bottom of the last, one ofthe toe wipers beingindicated in dotted lines in such a location in Fig.5. The wipers,

while being pressed inwardly against the upper,

are raised to wipe the uppe materials upwardly against the sides of thetoe portion of the last so-as to tighten them onthe last. When thewipers have been raised sufficiently above the insole they are movedtoward each other to wipe the margins of the upper materials inwardlyover the edge of the insole so as to form a definite crease in the upperwhere it overlies the upper corner of the insole edge. It is thencustomary to withdraw the wipers into positions clear of the upper,thereby permitting the operator manually to aise the overwiped marginsof the upper materials and to trim the margins of the toe stiffenermately of an inch) above the insole. A suitable adhesive, such as latex,is then applied to the marginal portion of the outer or bottom face ofthe insole and to the inner side of the margin of the upper 26.Thereafter, the toe wipers 34 are operated the second time to wipe theupper materials upwardly against the sides of the last and are thenmoved inwardly again to press together the coated margins of the upperand the insole and to hold the latter together under pressure longenough to cause them to adhere to each other, this operation of the toewipers being illustrated in Fig. 7, wherein the adhesive is indicated at3'6.

During the above-described upward and inward wiping movements of the toewipers the edge portion of the insolelO, becauseof the fact that it hasbeen stiffened or reinforced, will effectively resist any tendency ofthe wipers to distort or displace it or to break down or round over theupper corners of the sole edge, As a result the margin of the upper willbe laid smoothly over the margin of the insole and a more or lesssharply defined crease will be formed in the upper where it overlies theedge of the insole. This portion of the upper will thus be adapted to'lie close to the outsole when the latter has been laid on the shoebottom -so that there will be no unsightly gap or open crease betweenthe upper and the projecting margin of the outsole. Furthermore, onaccount of the fact that the stiffening material has been allowed toimpregnate the extreme edge portion only of the outsole so as to leavethe adjacent marginal portionsof the outer surface of the insoleentirely uncoated and unaffected, there will be nothing to prevent theoverlasted upper materials from adhering firmly to the insole andconsequently a strong bond will be obtained between them which willeffectively and permanently secure them together.

The lasting of thernpper materials over the insole in the shank and ,atopposite sides of the forepart, rearwardly of thetoe, is customarilyaccomplished by means of a side lasting machine in the use of which oneor more overlaying members operates progressively along the shoe bottomto wipe the upper materials inwardly over the operator, the overlayingmember or members may engage the upper in locations so close to the edgeof the insole that the .latter may be distorted or broken down. If theedge portion of the insole has been stlfiened, however, at oppositesides of its shank and forepart as well as in its toe portion as abovedescribed, the insole edge in these localities will be preserved in anunbroken or undistorted condition such as will best facilitate thelasting of the upper. If the overlasted upper materials are to besecured to the insole by means of latex at the sides of the forepart andshank, as is often desirable, this be effectively accomplished and astrong'bohding together of the materials insured, because of the factthat no stifiening medium has been applied to the surface of the insoleexcept in the immediate vicinity of the sole edge. Moreover, thehereindescribed method of reinforcing an insole is particularlyadvantageous where it is desired to prevent breaking down or distortionof the edge of the insole in the vicinity of the ball line since, byconfining the application of the stiffening medium to the extreme edgeportion only of the insole there will be no stiflening of the body por-'tion of the insole and the latter will be capable of flexing freely inits ball portion, as is desirable.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists inimpregating the extreme edge portion only of the toe of an insole with astiifening medium and allowing the latter to dry thereby stiffening saidedge portion while leaving all of the toe end of the insole except saidextreme edge portion thereof unaffected by. said stiffening medium tofacilitate adhesive attachment of an upper thereto, assembling theinsole with an upper on a last, working the upper over the stiffenededge portion of the insole, and securing the overworked margins of theupper by means of adhesive to the untreated insole substance immediatelyadjacent to the stiifened edge portion.

2. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in applyia stiifening medium directly to the edge face only of an insole andallowing it to penetrate and stiifen the extreme edge portion of theinsole while leaving the adjacent marginal portions untreated tofacilitate cement attachment, assembling the insole with an upper on alast, lasting the upper over the treated sole edge, and securing theover-.

lasted margins of the upper to the untreated insole margin immediatelyadjacent to the treated edge portions.

3. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists inapplying a stiifening medium directly to the edge face and to theextreme edge portions only of the side faces of an insole and allowingsaid medium to impregnate and stiffen the extreme edge portion only ofthe insole while leaving the adjacent marginal portions unaffected bythe stiifening medium, assembling the insole with an upper on a last,lasting the upper over the stiffened edge portion of the insole, andsecuring the overlasted margins of the upper to the unstiilened insolesubstance immediately adjacent to the stiffened edge portion.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoes whichconsists in applyinga stiflening medium to the extreme edge portion only of an insole byrelative movement of the insole and a stiifening medium applicator in adirection lengthwise of the sole edge while leaving the ad- Jacent innerportions of the insole untreated, assembling the insole with an upper ona last, working the upper over the stiflened edge portion of the insole,and securing the overworked margins of the upper by means of adhesive tothe untreated insole substance immediately adjacent to the stiifenededge portions.

5. An insole having its extreme. edge portion I only impregnated with asti-ifening medium in reinforce it against the stress of the lasting ofan upper thereover, the remaining substance of the I sole beingunimpregnated and presenting an untreated marginal surface of a widthsubstantially equal to that of the lasting allowance of an up- '7. Aninsole having portions of its edge face.

coated with a stiifening substance to reinforce them against the stressof the lasting of an upper thereover and having marginal portions of itsbottom face adjacent to said edge face portions uncoated by saidsubstance to facilitate adhesive attachment of the overlasted margins ofan upper thereto.

' RAYMOND E. HOPKINS.

